TJ Perenara reveals reasons for New Zealand departure despite ‘playing best footy of my career’
TJ Perenara during the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season.
TJ Perenara admits that the financial security on offer in Japan was too much of a lure as the scrum-half decided against holding out until the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The 32-year-old will effectively end his international career when he joins Black Rams Tokyo on a three-year contract.
Perenara will be available to Scott Robertson for the rest of the campaign, but the All Blacks head coach will lose his most experienced half-back from 2025 onwards.
The Hurricanes playmaker revealed that New Zealand Rugby did make a tempting offer but that the deal in Asia, which included an extra year, was simply too good to turn down.
‘Long-term security’
“Maybe – I don’t know because the offer [to 2027] wasn’t there,” Perenara told reporters when asked if a longer contract from the governing body would have made a difference to the decision. “We had an offer [from NZ Rugby] to 2026, which was an awesome offer as well.
“But that long-term security to 2027 and the prospect of that club [in Japan] and where the club is going is something that really excited me and something I really want to be a part of.
“So I don’t know [if I would have stayed]. It definitely would have made the decision harder.”
Perenara remains a key part of the All Blacks set-up and was named in the squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship, alongside young half-backs Cortez Ratima and Noah Hotham.
With Cam Roigard also in the conversation when he returns from injury, there are plenty of talented playmakers coming through for Robertson to take a look at.
The 32-year-old could well have been pushed out anyway, but Perenara did not see it that way and reiterated that it was simply family reasons which made him depart.
“I’m really confident in my ability and my ability to push other half-backs in the country to be the best half-back that we’ve got,” he said.
“We do have a lot of depth there but a big reason for us was security as a family. The opportunity to sign a three-year deal in Japan arose and we didn’t have three years here in New Zealand so for us that was a big factor.
“Then the scope of what my career looks like post-that as well is something we’ve been talking about, so the opportunity to go there, have these three years, hopefully do really well with the club and turn it into more, and then there are some steps after my playing career hopefully there as well.”
Turning down World Cup chance
Perenara returned to the All Blacks XV in July 2024, playing his first Test match since November 2022 – a game in which he sustained a ruptured Achilles.
It was an injury that ruled him out of the Rugby World Cup. It was therefore tempting for him to try for 2027 in Australia but he could not forgo this opportunity in Japan, a decision he has made peace with.
“Pushing for a World Cup opportunity was a big factor in wanting to stay, but that long-term security in Japan was something that was really exciting for us as a family. We’ve got two young kids, so that was important to us,” he said.
“The World Cup did factor into it, but the timing and the opportunity outweighed that price.
Perenara added: “I do back that myself and I believe that I’m playing some of the best footy of my career at the moment as well. So to walk away now was difficult, but I always I wanted to go on my terms as well.
“I never want to look back on my career at the end of it and be like, ‘Man, you stayed too long’ or you were pushed out. I would rather look back on it and think maybe I went a little bit too early.”